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What affects the sound more the head or the cab?

#21
I agree the Cab is the bigger factor - but make sure you listen first and decide. I've bought *one* cab on line without hearing it and it sounded... Bad. Won't do that again.

Now, buying a cab on-line that you've heard, that you know that you like, that's different... but taking everyone's word and trusting the advertising is silly. The best way to educate yourself is do what I did: Spend a bunch of time in a store, trying stuff out. I was lucky enough (?) to work in a music store and then teach at that store for several years - I got to know all kind of stuff about gear.
 
#22
I think we have different interpretations of the word "affect". To me the amp is irreplaceable in defining the character of the sound. The cab doesn't contribute as much character, but can certainly be more responsible for effing the sound up.
 
#26
Honestly, there's no unimportant part in the sound chain. You sound best when all your gear choices, playing technique, band you're with and venue you're playing at come together perfectly. So its important to get a good cab AND a good head.

I'd argue that the cab/amp part of the chain is very dependent on he venues you play. If all your doing is bedroom practice and garage band stuff a nice combo will be enough. If you're doing coffee shop or small diner gigs a combo might be adequate. If you're typically playing bars, gyms, banquet halls or at weddings a medium size cab (410) and nice 500+ watt SS head might be enough (I refer to this as a small rig). For large loud bars or outdoor gigs without PA support you'll probably want a good size (215 or 610 or 810) cab and a 300 watt tube or 1000 watt SS amp (this is what I call my big rig).

So looking at it that way a new bedroom/garage/coffee shop band combo rig will probably run between $500 and $1000. A good new bar/gym/wedding rig will be in the ballpark of $600 for a nice SS head and $1200 for a nice 410 cab. The big rig changes the amp/cab cost ratio a bit. If you want to buy a nice tube big rig new expect to pay around $2000 for an amp and about $1500 for a cab.

So, setting the combo discussion aside and focusing on just the small and large rig needs - you can see for a small rig that you might pay twice as much for a cab as you do a head, but in the case of the large rig the cost ratio is nearly flipped with the amp being the bigger spend of the two. If you buy used the total dollars obviously come down but the cost ratios stay about the same.

Here's a pic of my small rig - Musicman HD150/Bergantino HT322
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And my big rig - Ampeg SVT-VR/Bergantino NV610
3e9a4c75-08db-4017-b0fb-125596f40f5b_zps1eeec20a.jpg
 
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#27
Bassistcali said:
Loud enough for maybe playing in a gym nothing too major... I'm not really a tone freak so I'm not sure... Maybe a good punchy sound I guess
Click to expand...

A gym is a pretty 'live' venue. You can fill one with loud sound on a couple of hundred watts into efficient cabs. As you can see, the head vs cab question comes down mostly to the cab being most important, although there are many who feel that the amp is crucial. These people are ALL correct. TB'ers as a group are obsessed with tone. There are two camps: old school and modern. The old school tone tends to be on the dark side (lacks prominent highs) and deep lows, but has prominent upper bass and lower mids. The modern tone has prominent highs and upper mids, and a somewhat fuller mid bass. There is a subgroup of modern tone that is more 'hifi'. This group goes for accurate reproduction of the signal from the bass guitar, although some find that they can produce whatever tone they want via EQ (and that this cannot be done if the tone is 'baked in'. Note that heads and cabs are made for each group. Their preferred cabs have a smooth, even tone from the low bass through the highs, much like a good hifi system. Since their cabs contribute less color to the sound, variations in head tone are more easily heard, so the head becomes most important in determining their tone. These points of view are all valid… for the individuals sharing the same tone goals. Most players prefer cabs with enough tonal color that the head is of secondary importance. The head has to be reliable and have enough power to meet their playing (spl) needs. If tone is not very critical to you, consider cabs and heads that 'straddle the fence'. Not too dark and not too hot. If you will gives us a budget range, I'm sure there will be no shortage of recommendations.
 
#39
Always buy the best cab you can afford. Its the last link in your sound chain and difficult to compensate for if lacking the attributes you want in your sound. Be sure to buy one that either is colored in the direction you want your sound to go or is very transparent. I've found Aggie, Eden and Ashdown cabs to be generally darker sounding than say Hartke or MarkBass cabs, and Ampeg to be more mid and lower mid focused, and Epifani and Bergantino cabs to be very transparent with very little deep or bright coloration of the music.

The amp is important. However, in most cases not as critical as the cab. Hopefully any amp you select will have enough flexibility to allow a tweak in the desired direction if needed. But even the best amp may not have enough tone modding to overcome a poor or mediocre cab or one that's voice is colored too dark or too bright or too muffled or too mid focused.
 
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